Matt Petiton, a 6-foot, 180-pound pitcher from Garden City High School (N.Y.), verbally committed to play baseball at UNC two weeks ago. For him, it was a long process full of many headaches and stressful moments trying to decide where he belonged for the next four years of his life. Ultimately though, head coach Mike Fox won yet another strong recruiting battle for Petiton's services.

"In the beginning, I got letters from every school in the ACC and SEC and some in the Pac-10," Petiton said. "I was selective in where I wanted to go because I didn't want to go out west and I wanted to go to a school that was known for both its athletics and its academics. In the end, it came down to UNC, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest.

"But I just got a gut feeling with UNC when I set foot on campus that this was it from the start and it stuck with me down the stretch. They all gave me great offers and they are all unique in their own ways," Petiton continued. "I did a lot of research on all the schools, but since I was a kid, I loved North Carolina and they are one of the most popular schools up here too."

Petiton, who has visited UNC on several occasions, his last being in April for an annual high school showdown with some North Carolina high school teams, said his future head coach was elated to hear his good news.

"Coach Fox is great to me," Petition said. "He always welcomed me with open arms. He said, 'We want you here, you are one of our top recruits.' When I told him, he was just ecstatic and very happy. Not only did it take the monkey off my back, but his also. The two weeks before my decision were probably the most stressful weeks of my life. I was getting so many opinions from different people and it made my decision harder," he noted.

With his decision now out of the way, Petiton can focus on his senior season and also just enjoy being a high school kid. Petiton has played varsity since his freshmen season, and for his career, he has compiled a record of 22-4 and 0.86 ERA with 257 strikeouts in 169 innings, including an 8-1 record and a 0.33 ERA last season.

Petiton, who is scheduled to make his official visit to UNC in the middle of September, describes himself as a three-pitch pitcher: fastball, curve, and change-up. However, one of his best assets is his ability to control the plate with each of those pitches when he wants.

"I think I can command my fastball, curveball, and change-up and put them where I want them 90% of the time. One of my other strengths is I keep my poise and I don't really get phased when I get into trouble. I just try to keep it the same and work one batter at a time and not worry about who's on base. I also have a pretty good pickoff move which helps if I walk a guy. I'm also aggressive, so I like to throw inside," Petiton said.

Petiton says he's been clocked consistently at 87-88 miles per hour with his fastball but can occasionally get it to 90-91 miles per hour. Among the various honors that he's notched in high school include All-County, Diamond award for best pitcher in Nassau County, Conference MVP, All-Long Island, and 2nd-team All-American as a junior.